After many months of speculation and rumors of where he would land before the start of the regular season, Jimmy Butler has been traded to the Philadelphia 76ers. The Timberwolves would send Butler, along with Justin Patton to Philadelphia in exchange for Robert Covington, Dario Saric, Jerryd Bayless, and a 2022 first round draft pick.
Butler, who once played for the Chicago Bulls, had reunited with coach Tom Thibodeau in Minnesota and led them back to the playoffs last season, only to be bumped out of the first round by the Houston Rockets. The frustration came from not only losing in the playoffs, but the performances of Karl Anthony-Towns and Andrew Wiggins, plus the frustration of dealing with the front office.
Since then, there have been several teams that were interested in acquiring Butler, including the Brooklyn Nets, Los Angeles Clippers, Houston Rockets, and Miami Heat. While those teams presented some good offers, the Timberwolves acted greedily, believing that they were in the driver’s seat because that had Butler in their possession. Now that Butler will be in Philadelphia, he will be playing alongside Ben Simmons, Markelle Fultz, and Joel Embiid (pronounced Em-beed), forming a top team in an Eastern Conference which sees Toronto, Boston, and Milwaukee battling for supremacy. The landscape of the East has surely changed with Philadelphia’s acquisition of Jimmy Butler, and would definitely propel the Sixers as a top four team.
The Heat Check Magazine 